Motorists still driving like it’s fall

Motorists make their way along the Malahat near Victoria Thursday.

PHOTO: Debra Brash, Times Colonist

By Mark Iype, Postmedia News

Originally published: November 25, 2010

SMALL

MEDIUM

LARGE

Mother Nature is blasting Western Canada with her opening winter salvo this week while the rest of the country stands watch as the inevitable freezing temperatures and snow — hallmarks of the Great White North — march eastward.

But even though winter weather is as certain as the annual disappointment of Toronto Maple Leafs fans, the first snowfall makes some Canadian drivers are hitting the roads like they’ve spent their lives cruising Hawaiian highways.

“Every winter it seems like Canadians are caught by surprise,” said Philippe Letourneau, the host of the Discovery Channel’s television show Canada’s Worst Driver. “One thing we know for sure is that winter is coming every year.”

Letourneau said a lot of Canadian drivers develop bad habits over the spring and summer, and it takes some time for them to figure out how to drive in winter conditions again. “People overestimate their driving abilities and underestimate the road conditions,” he said.

Letourneau said the biggest mistake is that not enough drivers install winter tires, a simple solution for operating safely on Canada’s snow-packed and icy roads. Once temperatures drop below 7 C, winter tires will easily outperform all-season tires, he said. Modern winter tires have specially designed treads that clear slush and snow from a car’s path. And the tire rubber is engineered to remain soft at the lowest temperatures, allowing them to better grip the road.

“People complain about the cost of tires or storage problems, but that’s a pretty minor inconvenience when it comes to safety.”

Redmond, a former driving instructor in a province known for its harsh weather, said he doesn’t understand why governments don’t make winter tires mandatory. Quebec is the only province where drivers are required by law to use winter tires, although they are also mandated in some of the mountainous areas of B.C.

According to an Angus Reid poll conducted for Canadian Tire in early November, 30 per cent of the over 2,000 Canadians surveyed had not installed winter tires yet, while another third said they had no intention of doing so.

And in the three provinces hardest hit by winter weather this week, 58 per cent of Alberta drivers and half of Saskatchewan and Manitoba drivers said they weren’t planning on switching.

Those three provinces, along with the usually rain-soaked coast of B.C., have been dealing with sub-zero temperatures and snow that has made driving treacherous.

Victoria broke a 25-year-old temperature record Wednesday by dropping below -10 C, while Vancouver police were warning drivers to be aware of black ice. In Alberta, temperatures dipped below -30 C with the wind chill, and snow buried parts of the Prairie provinces. According to Environment Canada, the bad weather should hit Ontario and Quebec by the end of the week.

But every year, Letourneau said drivers react to winter like they’ve never seen a snowflake hit their windshield.

“I’m not sure why,” he said. “I think they sometimes try to pretend that winter is just not coming this year.”